Garden Railway Forum

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2019 8:32 am That siding gives operational interest as well as it can collect wood from the sawmill?

That was my thought too - here's an image from the very first page of this thread!





The old WHR did have a bit of timber traffic, so I plan to build some bolster wagons for that at some point, and possibly the bogie flat wagon that was cut down from an old NWNGR Ashbury brake composite... I don't know whether the timber being transported would have been logs on the way to a sawmill, or if the sawmill would have been close to the trees being felled and so the railway would've been carrying finished timber - any thoughts?

Cheers,

Andrew.

Regner loco, bolster wagons, perfect!

I've made a little more progress with "Project Penlan" in the last few days, but I'm afraid the photos were rubbish, might be able to post some of work in progress later.

The point to the new siding has now been inserted, and I've added the wooden strip that will form the edge of Penlan's rough gravel platform, based on old WHR practice. I've started clearing the area too, so that I can put in the platform and siding, but that's taking longer than planned because of the amount of grot that's accumulated in that corner over the years. My original plan was to get the running line ballasted and up to scratch and to leave the siding for later, but I think I'll need to do it the other way round to avoid trampling all over finished work. With luck I'll get it done over the next couple of weeks...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hope it goes well for you Andrew, I know what you are talking about..Our line is not playing ball at all, the extension is proving a little bit frustrating...The Son-in-law is ready to call it a day. I have told him that, it's that way sometimes. It can be frustrating but in the end it will turn out ok.

Has it will with yours mate.

I do love this time of year, when you can just pop out for an hour or so in the evening and move a project on a little - which is what I did last night.

Because we no longer have a shed, the corner of the garden I'm currently working on will always have to be used to store a certain amount of stuff, but last night I added a sort of retaining wall from scrap timber, which will both contain the junk and help define the bit that's "railway". There was still a little time left to start work on the siding too, so I started digging the trench that will be filled with old bricks and Postcrete to form the trackbed.

Here's the whole corner, complete with junk, which will either be stored, used (in the case of the bags of slate chippings) or disposed of:




I think you can see the potential for this to be quite an attractive corner... Here's a close-up, showing the platform edging in place, awaiting the application of wood preservative and then back-filling with Postcrete to form the platform itself. In the background is the simple wall I put in last night, and the start of the earthworks for the siding...


And here's the start of the siding:


I don't think I'll get anything done tonight, but with luck I'll be able to test the trackwork by the end of the BH weekend. Then it will on to ballasting...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Looks to be great project mate and one that will I am sure will be just as brilliant as your modelling...

Good morning!

A lovely day yesterday saw a fair bit of progress on the current project in the garden, sorting out Penlan station.

A simple brick trackbed for siding was Postcrete-d into position, and the track assembled on top. In true railway tradition, this unimportant siding was laid using bits and bobs of track that had once been used on the mainline. In all the siding was made up of no fewer than seven separate short lengths (it felt like laying Hornby set track!), some of which has probably given service in multiple locations on three railways over twenty or more years!

Here's a test train resting in the new siding:


And a view across the station itself - the building will go just in front of that big plastic bag:


Testing went well. I was able to pull and propel trains into and out of the siding and over the point work quite happily, so all should be well...

I've made a start on the landscaping, but I think that'll be the next job, along with ballasting the siding. I need to do that first so that I don't need to tread on everything else in order to get to it - it will also be good to remind myself of my SBR ballasting technique in an area that doesn't matter! Then it'll be the platform, then ballasting the rest of the track, I think, although unfortunately the weather's not looking as good today which may slow things down...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Looking good Andrew, the building when it's in position will really make it a great add to your line.

The weather was light rain yesterday here, but today it's throwing it down....

Nice Andrew.
Mind you, with all those short lengths of rail, the cost of the number of rail joiners you used must have pretty much equated to a length of new rail!

Looking really good Andrew, I like the ideas of using brick track beds.

philipy wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2019 11:42 am Nice Andrew.
Mind you, with all those short lengths of rail, the cost of the number of rail joiners you used must have pretty much equated to a length of new rail!

Luckily, when I came to look I found that I'd over-ordered last time I purchased fishplates. And, since the siding literally used up every last inch of usable track I've got left, it didn't feel too wasteful!

Cheers,
Andrew.

steamer68 wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 10:58 am Looking really good Andrew, I like the ideas of using brick track beds.

Thanks Kevin! The combination of bricks and Postcrete makes for fairly easy ground-level track laying - because this was just a siding I was slightly less careful than I might have been with levels etc, which made things even quicker, but I'll have to ballast carefully to correct anything that's too wonky...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hello all,

With a busy weekend ahead I started work early today, before the kids got up, to make sure that there'd be at least some progress on the Penlan station project.

This morning's task was to add the platform. I'd prepared the ground a little earlier in the week, painting the wooden edging with preservative and walling in the hebe at the back of the platform with scraps of slate, so this morning was about spreading the Postcrete that forms the surface, representing the old WHR's simple earth/gravel platforms.

Here it is awaiting a spray with the hose, with the station building wrapped in clingfilm for protection and then nestled into the cement in an attempt to avoid there being a gap:


You can't see it in the picture, but behind the station the new siding is ballasted and covered in plastic sheet while the SBR dries. Typically for me, I lost the turkey baster I purchased for SBR application before I'd even used it, so it was back to my old syringe, but with the flow controlled by my finger rather than the plunger. Probably not strictly in line with the H&S guidelines on the container, but I seem to have survived unscathed...

Family duties permitting I might be able to get the rest of the ballasting done this weekend, paving the way for running some trains on the next one. We shall see...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

Great progress andrew! looks marvelous, Hope to see some russell action soon!

Mitch

Looking good Andrew.

Andrew wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 10:58 am the new siding is ballasted and covered in plastic sheet while the SBR dries.

If your weather is anything like ours ( 26-27deg forecast today) then I'd uncover it pdq and let the warmth dry and set it. I've found that once it has a firmish skin a small amount of rain doesn't harm it even if it's still soft underneath the top layer. It goes white when wet but that goes again as soon as it starts to dry and each time it happens it gets a bit less.

Good advice Philip, thanks!

I needed to cover it earlier while I watered in the Postcrete platform (actually, I think that may have been an idea I pinched from you!) but it's now drying beautifully in the afternoon sunshine...

And thanks Mitch - sorry, no Russell action just yet, but I did get to do a little ballasting this afternoon, so naturally I had to run a ballast train...

Here it is making its way up the garden:



And unloading at Penlan:



It seems that the little chap in the dungarees will have to sort this lot out by himself, no wonder he doesn't look terribly pleased...


Cheers all,

Andrew.

Those last two are super piccys!

The age old question yet again, what is your ballast?

philipy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 4:33 pm Those last two are super piccys!

The age old question yet again, what is your ballast?

Glad you like 'em!

The ballast is "Alpine Green" horticultural grit, which I purchased from B&Q a few years ago. I'm hoping they still sell it, because I've run out and am planning to buy some more tomorrow. I've ballasted but not glued the platform road and loop today, but not the pointwork at each end. Tomorrow, maybe???

Andrew.

I only asked because my supply is running low and yours look very similar. I bought 2 x25Kg of https://resinbondedaggregates.com/produ ... ranite-3mm years ago for 10 quid, which I collected.
The trouble is they charge £55 delivery! It would actually be cheaper to drive to Derbyshire and collect it. I was driving all over the country for work last time, so it wasn't a problem back then. I suspect your B&Q stuff comes from the same source, though.

Great to see the station in position Andrew.

Love the little guy having to put the ballast down by himself. Great story...


Weather here is still miserable..Haven't seen the for 4 days now..